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. S&T system reforms

  Research assistance is an integral part of R&D and will therefore be enriched. Because the type s of needed research assistance are so widely diversified, and the improvements to research environme nts are becoming competitive, the government will not set a unified objective for enriching research assistant activities. Rather, the government will provide the needed money for research assistant act ivities to individual research funds. To provide the required assistant activities for each project, personnel dispatching and business outsourcing will be utilized. And to secure assistant activities c ommon to all researches and assistant activities requiring high-order skills, each research organizat ion will employ assistants by indirect expenses attained through competitive research funds. These as sistants will be sent directly to individual projects. Or, alternatively, public corporations that pr ovide research funds will send the necessary assistants to individual projects.

  As the number of problems to be solved continues to increase and the R&D subjects continue to b ecome more complex, it is increasingly clear that advanced, original and basic R&D must be promot ed in Japan, and R&D results must be smoothly utilized in economic and social activities. Accordi ngly, the government will strategically and systematically improve the intellectual infrastructure, i ncluding research materials such as genetic data, measuring standards, testing methods, analyzing dev ices, and related databases.

- The government will promote improvement of the intellectual infrastructure relating to four priori tized areas in the public/private sectors, with a goal to achieving world-class status in 2010. In th e process, the government and private sectors must recognize their individual roles. While the govern ment will maintain those portions of the intellectual infrastructure that are considered strategically important or that are related to publicity/neutrality, private companies will invest in those that will be developed by the market mechanism.

- To ensure a highly diverse intellectual infrastructure that is convenient for users, the governmen t will establish a mechanism for fast and easy location of all needed information, and will do so wit h the particular needs of users in mind. In addition, the government will participate in and lead int ernational discussions, such as discussions on measurement standardization.

- In order to provide timely additions to the intellectual infrastructure for S&T development in the future, the government will gather the results of all R&D projects in Japan.

- The government will also formulate basic legal rules on intellectual property rights, and on provi sion for and utilization of S&T data, in order to provide a quick response on such matters.

- Researchers and engineers will be evaluated in part on their contributions to the intellectual inf rastructure.

  To promote creative intellectual activities, it is extremely important to protect intellectual prop erty rights ('IPR' hereinafter). IPR issues have been discussed internationally, and many n ational IPR systems have been improved. From this point forward, however, greater efforts will need to be made with respect to IPR in Japan.

- The government will promote professional, world-class IPR services and improve the mechanisms for settling disputes on IPR issues.

- The government will promote cooperation for preliminary technological investigations with the Unit ed States and European countries, and support Asian countries on their IPR systems. The systems shoul d be operated transparently and harmonized internationally to protect IPR of advanced technologies, s uch as biotechnology and IT.

  For easy dissemination of R&D results in the market, technological standardization will need to be improved. With the recent expansion of cross-business fields and development of a networking soci ety, those who control international technological standards increasingly control the world market. A nd it is also important in international competition to have an internationally equivalent system for certifying new products that apply new technologies. In light of the above, the government will acti vely contribute to the international standardization activities of the International Standardization Organization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), and the International Telecom munications Union (ITU). At the same time, the government will work to establish international rules corresponding to economic globalization. And strategic cooperative relationships for standardization with Asian and Pacific countries will be established. Together with these measures, R&D for techn ological standardization will be implemented, and public research organizations will take part in thi s standardization activity.

  In step with the rapid progress towards an IT society, R&D offices have been leading the effort to improve the research-informational infrastructure by deploying computers, establishing LAN, netwo rking between laboratories, data sharing on computer networks, and establishing electronic libraries in universities.

  To extend this improvement of the research-informational infrastructure in response to IT innovations , the government will further advance and streamline R&D in Japan by using the existing infrastru cture to collect and disseminate research information. Specifically, in consideration of world trends , the government will help to improve the speed and effectiveness of pending research computer networ ks and LAN in laboratories by introducing new technologies. Ongoing efforts will also be made to digi talize research results, academic publications, and library catalogues.

  Anxieties about Japan's manufacturing capabilities and quality control traditionally one of th e country's strong suits have recently been increasing. Concerns include the loss of high quali ty manufacturing infrastructure due to a lack of technological successes, an increasing tendency to u ndermine manufacturing, and frequent accidents. In order to maintain and improve manufacturing capabi lities, the government will take the following systematic measures.

  Because manufacturing is conducted using human resources, it is important to develop and secure hum an resources by familiarizing children with manufacturing processes, fostering educations that cultiv ate creativity, and providing practical engineering training and internship opportunities. More gener ally, it will be necessary to enhance public understanding and respect for manufacturing. To achieve these goals, the government will promote a commendation system, such as the Prime Minister's Awa rd, for individuals/companies who display prominent abilities in manufacturing. Moreover, the governm ent will systematize its intellectual assets on manufacturing in order to appropriately manage costs, quality, risks, and the scope of projects. In this way, the complexities of production and automated manufacturing can be handled without any "opacity of technology". And the government will develop qualified engineers for the project management system.

  The advanced techniques of highly skilled engineers will be tapped for the creation of digitalized databases/software. The government will integrate IT and manufacturing technologies into a new manufa cturing system by improving product development and manufacturing processes through detailed design s imulations, and by providing a next-generation infrastructure for design/manufacturing utilizing IT.

  To accelerate technological innovation, it is necessary to establish a mechanism to support the int ellectual working environment for engineers. To this end, the government will collect and provide an array of data, including knowledge on basic techniques in the design/manufacturing process, stories o f success and failure, and technical advice from public research organizations. It should be seriousl y acknowledged that artificial materials and substances created in the last half of the 20th century have been applied without evaluating their environmental impact, resulting in significantly adverse e ffects on individual lives and the global environment. With the goal of never overlooking these effec ts again, long-term safety must be evaluated and health and environmental risks assessed prior to the development of new materials and substances. And these results must be continuously disclosed and re peatedly reviewed.

  Academic societies, which have a wide range of human/knowledge resources on a par with that of publ ic research organizations, are expected to disclose S&T information, to promote exchanges of rese archers among industry-academia-government sectors and with foreign countries, to make proposals rega rding S&T policies, and to play a role in R&D system reforms. The government will support aca demic societies so that they can enhance the above activities.

  In addition, non-profit organizations, which are uniquely able to respond to social/academic needs, will also be expected to expand their activities, including their information dissemination, technol ogy transfers, researcher exchanges, and research support. The government will help establish a non-p rofit environment that fosters these changes.